11 March 2015

A Polish Man, A Kenyan, And An American Walk In To An Office...

(sounds like the beginning of a joke my great-grandpa would have loved!)

In the last month, as I realized my time here was coming to an end and I still was no closer to finding any end (or beginning, really) to human trafficking here in Kenya, I began to wonder if there was something I was missing--or had misheard--in my search...or in what I thought God has told me.

One night, I spent a few hours (and, nearly all of my internet 'bundle') searching for organizations in the area that are working to identify and rescue victims of trafficking, when I came across HAART. I wrote an email asking if I could come for a visit while in Nairobi. They politely agreed and so, this afternoon, I spent a little over an hour with two of their staff members.

They told me first-hand stories of prevention, rescue, and rehabilitation, answered my questions with amazing humility, ('here's what we've learned...and we're tweaking the workshops every-so-often, based on our on-going research.') and gave me great hope for what the future of my ministry may be.

During the meeting today, they told me: First, that it is difficult for people to believe that Kenya has a trafficking issue because most people don't see what's happening as injustice, (unless they are not being paid--which they are quick to identify as unjust, as has been true of the stories I've heard so far) Second, that they teach workshops to people in slums and rural areas to help them identify human trafficking, how to avoid it, and tell stories of victims of trafficking to help people see the similarities between these stories and their own (and even gave me copies of the documents), and Third, that they've been wanting to extend into Western Kenya (you know, near Kitale...)

I was trying so hard to play it cool, while also seeing so many pieces fall in to place: the parenting seminar I've dreamed about for years, a way to care for the prostitutes who are trying to provide for their children in the slums, educating the community on ways to identify and avoid being trafficked, connecting them with a thriving and Christ-centered church in their community...it's all there.

The when and how and who are still a little blurry, but there's plenty of time for all of that to come together.

For now, I am celebrating God's provision in this one hour meeting. And expressing my gratitude to Him.

And to you, for praying alongside me in this slow and steady journey that I am so often trying to make in to a race.